Chapter Four: Mission Time!
"Come on guys! Only a couple more feet to go!" A high spirited girl shouted down. Her legs dangled from the branch she sat on and her hands remained planted on the bark. Right beside her was a kunai knife, a tool for marking, which she happily jabbed into the main trunk of her tree. Kinako sat in her place of the high heavens, frowned, and wielded another pair of senbon needles. "You're too slow! Should I hit you with these to make you go faster?"
"Stupid Girl. What a show off!" Ryuu growled under his breath from his place thirty meters down from her. The adrenaline filled boy dashed for his tree trunk, kunai at hand, and firmly planted his foot on the vertical surface. Moving like a cougar, he raced up past his previous ten marks and tried to gain at least another yard before losing it and falling back down. As his blade scratched into the tree's surface, he felt his body double back and he landed on the ground with a sickening thud.
Shun also followed suit as his buffoon of a friend except he landed nimbly on his feet than on his tush. But either way; he wasn't faring well in this training. He was more ten meters off the ground compared to Ryuu's measly eight feet, but even he succumbed to a loss of chakra control and plummeted to the ground.
But Kinako, she excelled…a lot. When it came to chakra control, she was the master. In fact, she was so good, she even carved her own name into the tree as she was running up...with her feet! Because she was doing so well, Shikamaru even exempted her from today's training! So unfair! Speaking of Shikamaru, instead of helping them train and develop their skills together, he put Kinako in charge and went to watch clouds. What a lazy sensei!
Thinking of that moment, Shun bit his lip in disgust and ran for his tree once again, ready to pounce. So did Ryuu. Both planted their feet at the base at the same time and both sprinted for the top. Both concentrated on their target and it was the smirking girl sitting mere hundreds of feet away.
But that girl soon lost her smirk. Her hand flew out from behind and launched a senbon needle flying right in between the boys. Splat! Both fell. Just like she thought.
"You're not concentrating. If you even lose focus for just a second, you'll fall. Can't you try to ignore the leaves and twigs that get in the way?" Kinako said matter-of-factly as she softly landed in between them.
"Ow... Stupid Girl..." Ryuu whined, painfully rubbing his broken butt. "I can totally do this if it was on water."
"Then wouldn't this be easier to you?" Shun pointed out.
"You! Shut up and stay out of this!" Ryuu glared at him and stood on his feet.
Shun shrugged and stood up as well. "Just pointing out the facts, brain dead Gate Jumper."
"Pompous Dead Last!"
"Unwanted Immigrant."
"Traitor!"
"Hey! Stop fighting boys!" Kinako quickly jumped in between them before fists started flying.
Poof! They all stopped.
"Listen to your proxy leader or else, you're a failure of a proper shinobi." A lazy voice drawled and a yawn followed. There, within the smoke, appeared a familiar spiky ponytail and laid-back posture. He yawned once again, "Can't I even leave my team alone for once and not find some sort of fight breaking out? How troublesome."
"It wouldn't have happened if this bastard didn't start calling me names!" Ryuu accusingly pointed his finger at Shun.
"How about you stop antagonizing your own teammates and then we'll talk." Shun coolly retorted back.
"What was that?"
The rest was history. After a few days of training his team, Shikamaru already deduced three scenarios that were most likely to happen. Scenario one: Ryuu insults Kinako and she tries to outwit him, which is very easy, or Shun steps in before she even starts. Scenario two: Shun and Ryuu fight to the death. Scenario three: Scenario two with Kinako thrown into the mix. Luckily, with Kinako around, it halted any chance of physical fighting and the quarrel simply went to verbal abuse. Stupid and troublesome as his boys were, at least they had the chivalry to not hit a girl.
Right now...the situation was slowly progressing into scenario two. How troublesome. Now he actually had to go in and break it up. He yawned and scratched his head unenthusiastically as always.
Shikamaru glanced over at the only sane member of his team. She was watching her teammates fight. She was not amused, of course, like she already knew stuff like this was going to happen. How many of these fights has she witnessed already? It was probably dozens by now.
"Kinako. You've probably seen them do this multiple times. Worried?" Shikamaru walked up beside her.
"No." The girl with light brown pigtails simply replied as if everything was a normal occurrence. She looked like it too. She was standing beside the fight with her arms crossed over delicately in the front. Her posture remained upright and relaxed. Even her head was steady as if observing and not intervening. There was no point to intervene. She knew the outcome each time.
"How come?"
"I've seen them do this many times at the Academy. Believe it or not, they're friends because they bond through senseless fighting." She suddenly scoffed in disgust. "Boys. I can't understand them sometimes."
"And yet you still tolerate them."
"Isn't it the same thing with you and us?"
She was right on that. Ryuu and Shun fought each other so much that the team slowly disintegrated into civil war with Kinako in the middle. His team just can't cooperate. Out of all the graduating teams, he probably had the most dysfunctional. How troublesome.
But, he still remembered that impressive teamwork they pulled out before in that bell test.
Reading his face, Kinako also smiled. "But, like you, I can see some redeemable qualities in them. Ryuu, no matter how much of an idiotic jerk he is, he is the most courageous and loyal out of us three. And Shun always acts like he doesn't care, but he is actually a big softy underneath."
"And you are?"
"I'm obviously the smartest!" She confidentally replied, smirking right back at him. "Kinda like you."
She's at it again. Shikamaru stepped before her and knelt down. She was nearly at eye level with him. "Before I deal with those two, I'm going to have to set some ground rules with you. If you see something that you shouldn't have, keep it to yourself. This is important during missions. Second, if you see something about me, keep it to yourself. Do not blurt it out. I don't want Ryuu and Shun bagging at me about my personal life."
"Okay." Kinako nodded.
Shikamaru grinned a little and he ruffled her hair. At least one person on this team can understand him. Then again, she already knew everything there is to know about him.
Now...the other two...
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu!" A black shadow suddenly shot out from him and connected to the two troublemakers. When they were at mid punch, their movements suddenly halted and their faces turned to shock.
"Sensei!"
"What was that for?"
"Stop fighting and get over here." Shikamaru yelled and released the jutsu. Like he predicted, they halted all fighting and were scrambling up to catch up. When they arrived, Shikamaru cleared his throat and began, "I've been noticing that the teamwork here is crappy. On missions, you have to be working in a team. So, in order to improve your teamwork, I assigned you guys a mission."
"A mission! Really?" Ryuu excitedly shot up from his seat. "We finally get to kick butt! I can wait to release my awesome jutsu at them! This is going to be awesome!"
"What's the mission?" Shun was skeptical as always.
"Who cares! We finally got a mission! This is so..."
OoOoO
"Crappy." Ryuu begrudgingly shoveled up more dirt. "Hey! I thought we were going on a real mission!"
"This is a real mission. And you got more afterwards. Next you have to pick up garbage, sort through mail, pick up delivery items, find lost cats, etc. etc." Shikamaru replied from his place on a bench. He wasn't even looking at his team, but at the clouds.
"So we're doing people's chores?" Shun inquired as he dug his shovel into the ground.
"Precisely. That's a D mission for you."
"But I want to kick butt! I want to fight some hardcore ninjas!" Ryuu loudly complained.
"Then wait until you are a chunin. Right now, you are a genin and genins do D-rank missions."
"How the hell is this going to prepare us as chunins?"
"It builds teamwork."
"But how do we know how to fight and stuff?"
"That's what training is for. Now get back to work!"
"Ryuu. Listen to our sensei or you'll get in trouble." Kinako hissed.
"Oh shut up! Stupid Girl!"
Kinako frowned. "When are you going to stop calling me that? Are you still upset that Sanae didn't end up on your team?"
"Yes! Of course!"
Kinako frowned once again and crossed her arms. "Hmm...I don't talk to her much but I know stuff about her. I know that you are definitely not her type. And she has a crush on someone else."
"And who is that? I'll beat him in a match and show her how much better I am!" Ryuu declared, fist pumping and all.
Kinako pointed. The other boy froze. Of course, there was only one other boy on their team.
"Shun! You? I thought she was the only girl who wasn't part of your fan group. How could you steal her away?"
"You idiot! It's not like I want a pack of fangirls going after me!"
Shikamaru sighed. He watched the clouds freely float by and paid not a slightest bit of attention. They'll sort this out eventually and life would just move on. Missions today. Training tomorrow. That procedure repeated over the course of many days, that's his plan. And eventually, they'll take the Chunin Exams and pass and finally be out of his hair. Who knows? Maybe he could grow attached to these little kids? They've been cooperative till now and it's not like they'll demand something impossible to grant.
"Fine then, if we go on a fighting mission, I'll kick your ass!" Ryuu proclaimed.
"You're on!"
"No." Shikamaru lazily interrupted. He finally got up from his bench.
"Why's that? Can't you ask for a C-rank mission? I heard genin can do C-rank missions." Shun said.
"First of all, experienced genin can do C-rank missions. Second, you guys are not experienced enough and it's too dangerous. Third, don't use missions to settle your feud with each other. That's just being irresponsible."
"Please! Shikamaru-sensei!" Ryuu was now on his knees.
"No means no." Shikamaru sighed and turned his heel. "Now hurry up and finish this mission so we can move on with the next one."
"Come on! Please! If you give us this one, I won't ever bother you again!" Ryuu persevered and Shun and Kinako gazed on with mixed emotions.
"Don't make me strangle you with a shadow."
Ryuu gulped. His sweat dripped from his brow and drained from his face. He wanted to move, but he couldn't. It was not from a shadow though. No. But Shikamaru sure can get scary if he needs to.
Kinako sighed and she swatted the poor albino boy awake. "I told you, you'd get in trouble. And you didn't listen."
"That's what you get for doubting a mind reader." Shun piped in with a smirk.
"I'm not a mind reader."
"Yeah. Yeah." Shun ignored the pissed off girl and knelt before his shocked friend. "But I agree with you on one thing. These missions are useless. Like you, I'm looking for more of a challenge."
Ryuu quickly recovered after hearing him, but he scoffed. "Good luck trying to convince Shikamaru-sensei."
"Who said we had to convince him?" Shun winked and gestured to her.
Kinako's green eyes now fluttered in shock and she quickly shook her hands out in rejection. "Oh no! We're not blackmailing him again! Besides, what I know is not going to be much of an effect against him."
"Kinako." Shun sighed and patted her on the back, bringing her closer. "I'm not talking about our sensei. I'm talking about someone bigger. If you agree with my plan, I'll get Ryuu to do anything you want like say…getting rid of that nickname?"
Kinako blankly stared back at Shun. Now…that is an offer she can't refuse.
OoOoO
The old Hokage, Tsunade, stretched out her aching arm. That joint probably spent three hours signing papers and stamping stuff. God! She needed a break! She may be the last remaining Sannin and one of the strongest shinobi to have survived two major wars, but those legacies didn't mean she still had to continue working. She might as well stick the Hokage hat onto Naruto's head and call it a day!
Tsunade chucked away some useless paper with nonsense scribbles and she reached into a drawer below her desk. A secret stash of sake appeared in her hands. Time to drink!
"Tsunade-sama?" A pink-haired medic, Sakura, one of her best-trained students, opened the door. "You have guests."
Three young students walked into her office. One was looking at her very eagerly. One was smirking with a huge bag of coins and other valuables. And the last one was looking down at her feet.
The smirking one set the bag at her desk. "Hello. My name is Shun Tetsuya from the Tetsuya clan. And I have a proposition that you can't refuse: A gamble."
OoOoO
"Because most chunins and jounins are doing B and A-rank missions, I thought, since these students have graduated for some time now, they should gain experience from actual ninja missions. Thus, I'm assigning your team, Shikamaru, a C-rank mission."
Shikamaru groaned and wanted to face palm himself if given the chance. But Tsunade would skin him alive if he showed such judgment against her actions so he kept everything to himself. Of course, his cute little team would get much punishment in their next training together. He knew dirt where he could see it. Oh well…right now, he had to concentrate on whatever this mission is. As long as it doesn't involve…
"You are delivering a message to Suna. You'll leave today and I'll expect you back in a week or two." Tsunade paused when she saw no color on Shikamaru's face. "Is something the matter?"
"No…" How troublesome.
OoOoO
"All right, whose bright idea was it this time?" Shikamaru targeted his two students sitting before him. Kinako went off to find some berries to snack on in the duration of the trip.
"Both of us." Ryuu and Shun answered back.
Shikamaru paused, processing the fact that these two troublemakers were actually able to work together on this. "Well Ryuu is too stupid to convince the Hokage…"
"Hey!"
"But Shun, why'd you do it?"
"I want a better mission. If there's something I want, I'll definitely make sure I'll get it." Shun finally was able to look at his teacher. His teacher was gladly not furious at him. "Besides, don't put all the blame on us. Kinako was a part of this too."
"Yeah! She was going to tell us if the Hokage was lying on us." Ryuu started to laugh. "But the Hokage is so bad at gambling, we ended up not needing her help!"
Shun quickly jabbed Ryuu with his elbow. "Hey! She can hear you. Besides…she's your teammate, when are you going to stop hating her?"
"She already knows I don't like her. But she'll adjust! No sweat!"
Shikamaru glanced off to his side. Strangely, Kinako should have returned by now. Gathering berries should not take such a long time. And he wasn't an expert at sensing chakra, but he could tell that her chakra was strangely missing. "Boys." Shun and Ryuu stopped arguing, "Shun. Go track down Kinako. I think something happened to her."
Shun nodded. "Space Tracker Jutsu!"
A few minutes passed and Shun still firmly held his technique. It has been such a long time that even worried expressions set in on Shikamaru and Ryuu.
"Hey Shun…" Ryuu shook his friend. "Did you find anything?"
Shun finally released his technique, His eyes shot straight at the river. "She fell down over there and got swept up in the stream."
"I'll find her. Stay here." Shikamaru stood up, but Ryuu beat him to it.
"No. I know the water best. What if there's a fork in the river? I'll have a better chance of finding her!" Ryuu sprinted for the body of water, eager to finally get some action in this trip. "You guys go on ahead! I'll catch up later!"
His dashing feet landed firmly on the water. The stream did nothing to him. He already knew how to walk on that thing. He turned his heel and followed the current, searching for any remaining signs of Kinako whether it was a piece of clothing or her hair or maybe her mangled remains. Nah! This river was not a turbulent channel of death. There was definitely no way! Ryuu finally halted at a muddy river bank. There were footsteps. These footsteps deeply engraved themselves into the dark mud and were headed for the grass. Could it be her?
Ryuu quickly dashed in that direction and flew up the steep river bank. This time, he saw depressed patches of grass, indicating that footsteps also went through this area. Sure enough, after following these footsteps, he saw wet footsteps on the dirt path. Where did these footsteps lead to?
A young girl soaked in her own clothes, holding onto a bag of berries and her bleeding hand, and limping her way up the road which would have connected her back to her teammates.
"Stupid Girl! Found you!" Ryuu sprinted up to her.
She didn't even try to look. "Oh it's you." She kept walking. "Leave me alone. I can get back myself."
"No you can't. You're limping!"
"So what?" Kinako shouted back. "You're probably glad I'm suffering so much right now! I try so hard to cooperate with you and you still hate me! What have I ever done wrong to you?"
'When are you going to stop hating on her?'
Ryuu froze. He thought of the situation. A girl, sopping wet, was refusing his help and calling him out for something. He remembered all the stuff he's done to her. Laugh at her, ridicule her, insulting her to name a few. Man. Those were some shitty things he's done. He was the bad guy that Kinako should be afraid of. No wonder Shun always told him to lie off.
Kinako continued inching forward, clearly ignoring the stunned boy behind her. She didn't care. It's not like he cared about her to begin with. She wanted to move further, but something warm and dry covered her shoulders, enough to make her stop.
"What are you doing?" She deadpanned, clearly not amused.
"Get on."
She didn't have a choice in that matter either way. Ryuu already hoisted her onto his back and was bolting for the end of the road. But, the whole way through, Kinako did not struggle. No. She, instead, smiled as she gazed at Ryuu's face. She was satisfied on his sudden change.
"What's with the change of mind?" She teased.
"Shut up. You already know." Ryuu grumbled. "By the way, I'm sorry, for real this time."
"I don't believe you."
"You can read my mind."
"I'm not a mind reader." Kinako began to struggle, making sure Ryuu's grip on her slipped.
"Hey! You'll fall!" Ryuu struggled to make sure she was still on him.
"I'll stop if you do one thing for me. Change that stupid nickname of mine."
Ryuu snorted. "That's such a silly request. Why would you want something like that?"
Kinako finally hugged onto him tightly, assuring him that she won't fall. Ryuu felt his breath tighten a little the more she pressed into him. "I'm jealous. You and Shun always call each other names, but I can still see that those names just make you guys closer. I want to have the same thing. I don't want to feel separate and alone."
Ryuu took his time to answer her. He finally placed on of his hands onto hers, noting their peace. "Alright…Kina-chan…"
"Thank you."
OoOoO
"So you ended up not getting any food and getting injured?" Shikamaru said, watching the pained expression set in on poor Kinako. But she didn't do anything wrong. He sighed and stretched, not wanting to prolong this talk. "Whatever, as long as you and dragon boy over there settle your differences, I could care less. We'll rest for a couple more minutes before heading back out. I want to reach the edge of this forest before night sets." He disappeared and reappeared on the treetops, the best view for watching clouds.
"Hey!" Shun suddenly called over at them two, watching their faces both turn in surprise. "So…how'd you guys do it? Anything special happen?"
"Shut up Dead Last!" Ryuu angrily retorted. "Nothing happened between me and Kina-chan!"
"Kina-chan? How cute." Shun smirked, watching his teammates suddenly redden with embarrassment and looking off.
"Kinako, since you're our teammate, you can call him anything you want." Ryuu grumbled, glaring at Shun. "And make it painful."
"Hmm…" Kinako tilted her head, probably deep in thought. "Ryuu-chan and Shun-chan."
"Hey! Don't try to make us sound cutesy!" Both yelled at her.
"Okay! Okay! Ryuu-kun and Shun-kun. Happy?" Kinako started to laugh. A laugh that made her cheeks pink and her eyes sparkle.
Her boys gulped and looked away. Of all the times they've known her, interacted with her, and worked with her. It surprised them that she laughed at their jokes and humor. And she looked cute too for once!
This was the first time they saw her with such an expression.
She was happy.
Aww! Look at how cute they all look! So, now that the drama between Ryuu and Kinako is finished, time to commence with the next one. Anyone want to guess? Review! Please?